Bob McWilliams
Trail Mix host, Jazz in the Night host, KPR Director of JazzBob McWilliams, who earned his B.A. and M.A. in history at the University of Kansas and his J.D. from Harvard Law School, far prefers radio to law.
He has hosted jazz programs on KANU and KPR since 1983, and became jazz director and Jazz in the Night’s host in 1996. He also did graduate work in jazz history with the late Dick Wright.
He co-hosted the Flint Hills Special for many years, and has produced and hosted Trail Mix since it began in 1994.
Bob taught U.S. History for 25 years as an adjunct professor at Johnson County Community College and is a passionate Royals baseball fan and Kansas Jayhawks basketball fan.
Somehow, he also finds time to be an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction, and indulges his news habit with four daily newspapers and numerous magazines. Bob also founded the non-profit West Side Folk concert series in Lawrence and booked concerts for that series for 25 years.
"To me, there's nothing quite like 'goosebump music,' the music that makes time slow down and draws you in, away from everything else, and leaves you with goosebumps," Bob said. "I hope listeners enjoy the music on many levels, but I also hope that, on occasion, I can leave them with 'goosebump' moments."
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Saturday afternoon, on the last day of the Folk Alliance Conference, I checked out a song circle in the Canadian/Australian suite, which was highlighted by Rosie Burgess, from Australia, singing “Ha...
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The first of many songs I heard Friday at Folk Alliance was “Bright Morning Sun,” by a very fine young Boston singer-songwriter, Connor Garvey. While it was 2 p.m., this was fitting for me, as I w...
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After an afternoon of panels and schmoozing, the music began in earnest for me at Day Two of the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis with a 21st birthday celebration for Anthony da Costa, who I first ...
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It’s pretty hard to describe the Folk Alliance conference, other than hundreds (and that figure may well be larger) musicians, together with festival and concert producers, folk radio people, agen...
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One of the most exhilarating and engaging musical evenings I've enjoyed in quite some took place at the fine Grassroots Music Series presented at the Kansas City Academy on Saturday, Feb. 18, when alt...
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Diverse trio features three of the most impressive young musicians in Kansas City: trumpeter Hermon Mehari, bassist Ben Leifer and drummer Ryan Lee. On Saturday, Jan. 27, they performed in the new G...